The Onion

I decided to follow up on my posting Tuesday by giving you a link to a really funny story on The Onion, one of my favorite Web sites.

"The Daily Show" may be the greatest TV bastion of fake news, but The Onion rules the roost on the Internet. If you've never visited the site, you really should check it out regularly. It even has expanded from the mock newspaper format to include mock radio segments and videos. It's all hilarious, albeit sometimes a bit raunchy.

This particular story is headlined, "Town Hall Meeting Gives Townspeople Chance to Say Stupid Things in Public." It resonated with people in my newsroom.

All of us attend a lot of public meetings and hearings, and I've heard some very persuasive, intelligent arguments from the people who attend. I'm a big believer in giving the public that opportunity to weigh in on what's going on.

But I've also heard some of the most idiotic claptrap imaginable, in many cases from the same self-important windbags, over and over. Some of these meeting regulars act like they're delivering the tablets from Mt. Sinai.

It behooves the school board members and councilpeople to treat the public with respect and to at least give the appearance that they're interested in these viewpoints. But since no one elected me to anything, I feel free to roll my eyes with impunity. It's just one of many reasons why I prefer life in the peanut gallery.

Trackbacks

Current Comments

A former high ranking Northampton County public official, about whom you've written many times, sent me a link to that same article earler today. I wonder if he was trying to tell me something. Nah.

Here's what I think. Although I'm a Sunshine law fanatic, I believe the right to speak includes an oligation to listen. I rerally resent when people stand up and pontificate, but lack the courtesy to listen to what anyone else has to say, including the people they were addressing.

All rights have corresponding obligations. If I were to amend the Sunshine Act, one change among many would be to insist that whoever addresses a public body must stay for the entire meeting unless excused by the president of the board.